252 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



eleven years old, and even then it is by no means full 

 grown." 



While to a certain extent carnivorous in habit it de- 

 vours earth-worms greedily the box-tortoise is essentially 

 a vegetable feeder, and in summer depends largely upon 

 berries growing upon the ground. Strawberries, dew- 

 berries, and, later in the year, windfalls from fruit-trees, 

 form an important portion of their food. Decomposed 

 animal matter, also, is freely eaten. Dull, stupid, and 

 sluggish as these tortoises appear to be, they are not really 

 so inert as is usually thought. When two or three are 

 gathered together, and are left to themselves, they ex- 

 hibit a considerable degree of animation, and give evi- 

 dence of an intercommunication of ideas. As the result 

 of watching a pen of tortoises, myself remaining motion- 

 less and unseen by them, I became satisfied that they 

 took much notice of each other. They would often face 

 each other and crane their necks to the utmost, then 

 quickly, and with frequent repetition, snap their jaws and 

 occasionally utter a faint squeaky note, not unlike that of 

 a mouse. I have seen them, also, strike at each other 

 with their fore-feet, evidently in play, and then scamper 

 off in opposite directions with all possible speed. They 

 are likewise prone to anger, and have been known to 

 fight fiercely over a small supply of food. These con- 

 tests are a matter of jaws and toe-nails, both of which 

 are brought into play, but I never knew the foot of 

 one tortoise to become fastened in the shell of its op- 

 ponent. 



I have never, to my knowledge, found the eggs of 

 this tortoise, but suppose that they are placed in the earth 

 in much the same manner as those of the aquatic species, 

 which leave the water early in the spring for the purpose 

 of ovipositing. More strangely still, I have never found 



